Dupuytren's Contracture

William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR

Dr. Shiel received a Bachelor of Science degree with honors from the University of Notre Dame. There he was involved in research in radiation biology and received the Huisking Scholarship. After graduating from St. Louis University School of Medicine, he completed his Internal Medicine residency and Rheumatology fellowship at the University of California, Irvine. He is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology.

Jerry R. Balentine, DO, FACEP

Dr. Balentine received his undergraduate degree from McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland. He attended medical school at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine graduating in1983. He completed his internship at St. Joseph's Hospital in Philadelphia and his Emergency Medicine residency at Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center in the Bronx, where he served as chief resident.

Dupuytren's contracture facts

A Dupuytren's contracture is a localized scar tissue
formation in the palm.

The precise cause of a Dupuytren's contracture is not
known.

A Dupuytren's contracture is sometimes inherited.

A Dupuytren's contracture can limit extension of the
affected finger.

The treatment of a Dupuytren's contracture depends on the severity and the
underlying condition of the affected individual. Treatments include stretching,
heat, ultrasound, local cortisone injection, surgical procedures, and collagen
injection.

What is a Dupuytren's contracture?

A
Dupuytren's contracture is a localized formation of scar tissue around the tendons that flex the fingers beneath the skin of the palm of the hand. The scarring accumulates in a tissue (palmar fascia) that normally covers the tendons that pull the fingers to grip. As
a Dupuytren's contracture progresses, more of the fascia becomes thickened and shortened. Dimpling and puckering of the skin over the area eventually occurs and ultimately can make it impossible to fully extend the hand (as in laying it flat on a tabletop).

How fast does a Dupuytren's contracture develop?

A
Dupuytren's contracture
varies in its rate of progression from minor skin
puckering for many years to rapid contracture (fixed flexed
position) of
fingers.

What are the causes and risk factors of a Dupuytren's contracture?

A Dupuytren's contracture can be inherited. In medical
terms, the inherited form of a Dupuytren's contracture is transferred in the family
as a so-called autosomal dominant trait with incomplete penetrance and partial
sex-limitation. This means that the gene for a Dupuytren's contracture is not on an
X or Y chromosome (sex chromosome) but on one of the other 44
chromosomes. Consequently, one version of the gene is enough
to cause the disorder (it is dominant), but not everyone who
has the gene has the disorder (the gene is not fully penetrant), and the disorder is most frequent in males (the
gene expression is partially limited to males).

Typically, a Dupuytren's contractures occur in males over the age of 50.